How do we actually drive transformative change in semiconductor facilities? UltraFacility 2024 Closing Panel Report-Out.

At UltraFacility 2024, semiconductor professionals gathered to share technical solutions for advancing the industry – from incremental improvements to massive leaps in innovation. To consolidate the industry message to the supply chain, the closing panel gave specific recommendations for presentations at UltraFacility 2025, which will be held in Austin, TX, USA. Register your interest in submitting an abstract for presentation.

Featuring our panellists:

1. Dan Wilcox, Principal Engineer at Samsung Austin Semiconductor (Sustainability and Operational Excellence Strand)
2. Ashutosh Bhabhe, CEO at 14SiSolutions (Ensuring Yield and Reliability Strand)
3. John Painter, Director of Specialized Construction Solutions at Georg Fischer Piping Systems (Enabling Growth Strand)
4. Alex Milshteen, Principal Fab Facilities Engineer at Intel

Here are 5 takeaways we learned from the Closing Panel:

1. Collaboration delivers much-needed technological innovation

Dan Wilcox opened the panel, remarking that the semiconductor industry "is at an inflection point on the facilities side where we have to be innovative – we cannot keep doing the same things and expect to be more effective."

Wilcox went on to highlight an Intel-Nalco presentation as a prime example of how collaboration enabled the replacement of toxic triazoles with a new corrosion inhibitor. A solution from heavy industry was adapted to semiconductors, and testing the solution through collaboration with several stakeholder groups enabled successful piloting.

On a similar note, Wilcox noted that the industry has long relied on conventional treatment technologies for several applications, and we must enable start-ups to bring new technologies into the fold. ElectraMet’s presentation showcased an electrochemical process to remove and recover copper from waste streams for resale. Wilcox noted previous attempts to adapt electrowinning processes used in the mining industry, and that ElectraMet has successfully applied a technique to semiconductors with a design resistant to upstream changes. Membrion’s presentation how it leveraged a water service agreement with Lam Research to reduce risk in adopting innovative technologies, and thereby reduced volumes of copper wastewater disposal using an electrochemical process with ceramic membranes.

2. Analytical and digital solutions enable technology adoption and decision-making

In reflection of the industry need for highly data-driven decisions, Wilcox highlighted that presentations addressing the analytical means to gather data are paramount. While several talks addressed PFAS mitigation, Natcast’s presentation stood out for explaining how to understand and quantify PFAS usage and emissions, covering both current and next-generation analytical techniques, which is critical as the PFAS issue becomes a moving target.

Also emphasized was the talk from Applied Materials and Enviro-Energy Solutions on holistic energy models to normalize fab system data into energy as kWh or carbon footprint. Such models are paramount for end-users to make decisions relating to energy impact, so are beneficial when assessing technology upgrades with vendors.

Finally, Wilcox highlighted an Intel-FTD Solutions presentation investigating the risk around ultrapure water (UPW) recycling, using a digital twin in its assessment. Understanding how sustainability-driven initiatives impact risk is critical – such as how recycling UPW can affect makeup water quality or financial cost. At the IRDS and SEMI workshop, the author went further in explaining how collaborative research is enabling the industry to further understand UPW quality risks associated with recycling.

3. Industry standards enable the next generation of high purity systems – but there is much work still to be done.

Ashutosh Bhabhe discussed the Ensuring Yield and Reliability track’s evolution, applauding the industry’s effort to drive progress by constantly defining and redefining high-purity challenges. He identified three contamination trends in the conference agenda which are a focus for analytical development, aligned with the industry roadmap: particles, particle precursors, and organics.

In particular, Bhabhe highlighted CT Associates’ presentation on characterizing organic particle precursors in UPW, a study done in collaboration with DOC-Labor and UNISERS with the help of the SEMI C79 Team. For UPW – but even more so for high purity chemicals – further work is necessary to understand particle precursors and quantify risk to yield. Kanomax FMT’s presentation showcased research into particle precursors for some high purity chemicals, but such metrology must be expanded to all liquids – Bhabhe urged experts in this field to submit papers to UltraFacility 2025.

Another highlight was the Ensuring Yield and Reliability Opening Panel, which discussed learnings from UPW standards development, and their application to future efforts for high purity chemical standards, which are relatively lacking. It is vital to understand what is contaminating these chemistries and the available methods of removal.

4. The industry must be open to collaboration with universities.

Bhabhe noted an innovative presentation from the University of Colorado on pressure-driven distillation for improving yield and reducing energy consumption for UPW. Encouraging more universities to present, Bhabhe commented that the concepts might be out-of-the-ordinary for the industry, but questioning conventional methods is the vehicle for progress.

In a link to the Enabling Growth Strand, as well as the Keynote and Facilities Leadership Panel, multiple speakers stressed the importance of collaboration with universities, with the end-goal of providing industry-specific training to build a talent pipeline.

5. The digital transformation is here – and it will drive change in how facilities are built and operated.

John Painter discussed the Enabling Growth track – emphasizing that the industry is dissatisfied with construction productivity, as the tremendous cost pressure continues to rise, alongside persistent resource scarcity and people shortages.

Painter noted that over half of the Enabling Growth track presentations focused on the digital transformation – which is a huge paradigm shift compared to 5 years ago, when there was little discussion of these topics. He noted that "AI exploration is here, and the industry is demonstrating progress, but there is still some way to go for full adoption", including future possibilities such as full site digital twins which would make project delivery and offsite manufacturing more efficient.

Alex Milshteen remarked that semiconductor facilities now have real examples of digital transformation. As a result, he believes that construction productivity will rise, and urged the audience to engage with the Digital Transformation workshop which focused on AI for designing, scheduling and building factories. He also highlighted two Intel presentations: the first on AI and the digital supply chain, showing how data systems reduce complexity in supply chain challenges, including changes in schedule, design or lead time. The second covered the development of ultra-efficient facilities with AI and robotics, showing real-world examples of how robots work alongside humans in semiconductor facilities.

The industry will undoubtedly be moving in this direction – and more examples of AI and robotics will be demonstrated in the future.

Delivering change through sharing solutions:

Milshteen ended the panel echoing Wilcox’s opening remarks: "If we continue doing the same thing while expecting different results, we’ll get nowhere." The industry needs to observe the examples of progress presented at this year’s conference and consider how to implement further innovation.

Inspired by this year’s insights and keen to action the necessary solutions? Register your interest in submitting an abstract to present at UltraFacility 2025